a bleeding purple utah jazz blog

Game 5 of 82: Utah Jazz vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (2-3)

Pre-Game Quotage**Quin Snyder on Derrick Favors’ performance in the first four games
He’s been outstanding. You know, I think, just the leadership position that he’s been in, anchoring the defense and really finding his offense within the system. I mean, he’s getting post touches but it’s not like we’re calling a bunch of plays and just, you know, going to him in matchup situatio–We have some, for sure, you know? But by and large, you know, he’s played against some really good players, and you know, his versatility, you know, he can step out on the floor and hedge and pick and roll. And he can protect the rim and I think some of what he, his versatility is showing. His ability to kinda half-roll and find guys passing with the ball, and things like that has been great.**Snyder, asked to talk about Hayward’s passing ability
I think Gordon has got, he’s a multi-faceted player, and kinda my thing for him has been just to play with emotion and passion, and to attack. You know, I just, when you’re, when you can pass and dribble and shoot, you don’t need to think. You just have to play with instinct. And I say, obviously he thinks, but I don’t want him to hesitate. You know, I want him to attack, attack, attack.**Snyder, asked how he decides whether to keep Favors in the game or take him out when he’s in foul trouble
Yeah, it’s a tough question, I think that one you continually ask yourself. And part of it with him is there’ve been matchup situations that you could see, you know, potentially resulting in additional fouls. I put him back in the second quarter [against the Clippers] and matched him with Spencer Hawes, who I thought was a, you know, Spencer’s a good player. He’s a shooter. You know, the likelihood of him fouling Spencer is less than fouling Blake [Griffin]. And at the same time, he picked up a foul hedging pick and roll. So, you’re out there on the floor and you know, I think as he matures even more as a player, he’ll figure out ways to continue to bring that intensity and hopefully not foul as well.

**Gordon Hayward on defending the Cavs
I think just doing all the little things…It’s little breakdowns that get us, and you know, maybe it’s one person out of the five that does something wrong that leads to an open shot, an open three. And against really good teams, they make you pay almost every single time. So [the game] is definitely gonna be on all five of us to stop some of their bigger star players.**Enes Kanter, asked if there’s something special about playing a LeBron James team
It’s just a normal team…We are not gonna think, “Oh, they’re so good,” whatever. But they’re just another NBA team, so we’re just gonna go out there and just play our game. That’s it.**Kanter on his 3-point shot
It’s gonna get better, you know? It’s, like, it’s a new thing, you know? It’s so new…My coaches and my teammates give me that confidence, so I’m just gonna keep taking those shots…I think the corner three’s more, way easier than the, more than the other shots, yeah, behind the line.

Post-Game Quotage**Quin Snyder on Gordon Hayward’s game-winner
I told him out of the timeout, “Just, you know, shoot it.” So, he did.**Snyder on Hayward
If he plays with passion, you know, things will, he’ll make good things happen, ’cause he’s a very, very good player.**Snyder on if he debated fouling
Honestly, it’s, there’s so many things that we’ve tried to work on. And I was afraid what happened was gonna happen if we tried to foul…To me, if it’s something we wanna do, I wanna practice it. And we haven’t done that. Maybe I’m negligent as a coach, but there’s been a lot going on. We’ve talked about it, but sometimes communicating that on the other end of the floor is hard, and, you know, herding cats trying to yell at ’em, and didn’t wanna call a timeout, obviously.**Snyder on Joe Ingles
He’s a really good passer, and especially in a late situation like that, where, you know, it’s, he’s just a really good passer. And I fel–I feel comfortable, I feel confident [with him on the floor]. It’s a big part of late-game situations to have somebody that can deliver the ball.

**Gordon Hayward, asked what was the plan going into the last play
Kinda exactly what it looked like. I was gonna come up. We would run a little misdirection, and then had to step up for a pick and roll, and they switched it, and I think LeBron [James] might’ve fallen down or something, and then just hit a step-back shot.**Hayward, asked what happened after he hit the shot
Man. Just exhilaration, excitement. Teammates, you know, surround you. Fans are going crazy. You know, it’s, it just gets you hyped…It was awesome.**Hayward, asked to reflect on his young career
Well, it’s a process, and still a lotta room to go. A lot more that I can improve on…Actually, I saw [Cavs Director of Player Administration] Raja Bell tonight, and that brings back memories…You know, he helped mentor me, and it’s kind of a cycle. You, when you’re a rookie, you learn so much. You wait your turn, and then when you have your moment, if you’ve paid attention and you’ve continued to work, then you can execute, like we did tonight, like I did tonight.**Derrick Favors, asked if he knew Hayward’s shot was “money”
I don’t know. I wasn’t even looking at the ball. I was looking at the rebound. You know, he made it, and you know, it kinda shocked me, you know? I didn’t, I mean, I didn’t know. I wasn’t looking at the ball, [I was] ready for the rebound.**Favors on the emotional lift of winning a close game
It’s a confidence booster, you know? It shows that we can do it. You know, last year we let a couple close ones get away, and this year, you know, we learned from our mistakes from last year. You know, we learned how to dial in on the defensive end, close in games, learn how to take care of the ball a little bit better, and when the opportunity come, hit the big shot.

**LeBron James, salty as hell, asked if he was defending Gordon Hayward on the last play
Yeah, I got tripped…I think it was Dan–Favors. I was going over the screen, kinda tripped me. And then, but we were switching pick and rolls anyways, and Tristan [Thompson] just kinda laid off a little bit too much.

**Trevor Booker on the game
It was a great win for us, you know? We showed a lot of poise at the end of the game. We took their best punch–you know, we had ’em down early, and they fought back.**Booker on the Jazz crowd tonight
I mean, before I came here, I would hear about it, you know, how great the fans were…Tonight, it was just a different atmosphere [than the past few games]. You know, they were crazy. Hopefully we can get that every game.**Dante Exum on the game
It was a crazy experience, and you know, after the game, I said to Steve Novak, you know, I’m, like, I’m so happy right now…Coach has kind of imprinted in our head, you know, not too high on the highs and not too low on the lows. So you know, this is one of those highs that we can’t get too high on. You know, coach said definitely, like, we’re in tomorrow, we’re practicing. So it’s about, you know, putting this behind us, you know, enjoy it while we can, but you know, but we got a game on Friday against Dallas, who, you know, beat us bad pretty much the first time, so.**Trey Burke, asked if there was an option for him on the last play
Yeah, but Gordon, he made the right play. You know, I felt like if there was a guy in his face, then I would’ve been, you know, the second option behind him. You know, but they knew he was gonna try to get to the rim, so he drove hard right to the rim and got separation, so it was a big time shot for him.**Enes Kanter on his good night
My teammates, you know, just give me that confidence, and just, you know, give my credits to my teammates.

Rudy sporting the same jacket after the game as he wore to the post-draft press conference in SLC.

**Rudy Gobert, on his three blocked shots and if he felt in rhythm on defense
Of course, of course. I know that’s what I gotta do to help the team winning, and I know I gotta get better at this, and that’s my strength. … You know, I think we can [limit points in the paint] every night, like, as long as me and Fa–Derrick is at the court, we got two very good rim protectors, and I think we can bring it every night.**Gobert on his role as rim protector
The most important for me is just to keep come and block shots and keep protecting the rim. Of course I’m gonna get dunked on. I don’t even care.**Gobert on the Jazz’s next game
Dallas beat us pretty bad [last time], so I hope everybody gonna be motivated for this game.

@chang_max’s daughter, dressed up as a pink grandma. It doesn’t get more totes adorbs than this!

** The Jazz are no longer winless with Boler and Matt Harpring on the call.** Earlier this year, I diagnosed Hayward with PTSD. It may still be lingering, but at least he’s smiling now. We gotta talk about this shirt some time, though.

Unintentional Dirty Quote Machines of the Night (UDQM)**Media to Gordon Hayward: Do you get up for this types of game, any more than any other game?Hayward: I think it’s just natural to.**Quin Snyder on the Cavs circus coming to town: Sometimes that excitement, you know, is an impediment to execution. These guys wanna dunk in warmups, you know, instead of, you know, rotating in the backside.**Matt Harpring on the Jazz sharing the ball: Everyone gettin’ a touch. (H/T @CS_Larsen)**Harpring: Quin Snyder’s really rubbing off, being unselfish. Preaching to this team to be unselfish.**Harpring on LeBron James having lost weight in the off-season: Still looks pretty big to me.**Harpring on James sitting down on the scorer’s table: Why were you so scared of him?Boler: Oh no, he was scared of me.Harpring: I had to get you up underneath this table.Boler: Hahahahaha. He looked back, and you know, you don’t fall in Bolerjack’s lap.
(replay)Harpring: Watch, he’s coming right at us! There goes Boler!Boler: I’m standing straight up. (He didn’t actually move in the video.)Harpring: There you go. Now I’m pull–picking you back up.Boler: Hahahaha.**Boler on Doc Anderson: Now he’s swinging the chicken. (H/T @5kl)**Quin Snyder on the team, post-game: They need to feel my confidence in them. So this goes a long way.**Snyder on not fouling: It’s hard when those guys are coming in, and you know, we’re gonna try to stay vertical.**Gordon Hayward: It was a good finish, a great finish.**Tony Parks to Trevor Booker on Hayward’s shot: They’ll remember his, but you had one of the bigger ones of the night.**Steve Brown to Booker, post-game: And Book, we get to interview you upright tonight. (H/T @5kl)